The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and an Illinois farmer launched the pilot to a new nationwide program to distribute excess food to military members and their families at Scott Air Force Base on Friday.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the goal of the program, called Feed It Onward, is to reduce wasted food in the U.S.
“It's always unfortunate whenever you have to see any of it go to waste,” Zeldin said. “To be able to come together like this is a no brainer. To be able to multiply it — to take this as inspiration and amplify this effort nationwide — the EPA absolutely wants to help.”
Frey Farms, a fruit and vegetable farm located in south-central Illinois, delivered a truckload of excess watermelon, sweet corn, pumpkins and watermelon juice to members of the Metro East military base that would have otherwise ended up in the landfill, said Sarah Frey, the farm’s CEO.
“It kills me to see so much go to waste,” Frey said. “Through Feed It Onward, I think we really have an opportunity.”
Within 30 minutes, military members and their families had claimed the 40,000 pounds of produce that Frey estimates would have retailed between $16,000 and $24,000.
The donated produce would have otherwise been wasted because the large retail grocery stores Frey sells to pass up imperfect fruit and vegetables, she said.
“We have imperfect fruit,” Frey said. “Not everything that’s grown visually meets the standards or the shape or the size — but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with what is being produced.”
Americans need to shift their mindsight about imperfect fruit because oftentimes the imperfect fruit is the best, Frey said.
The donation also solves another problem facing many military installations. Almost a quarter of active duty military members experienced what experts call “food insecurity,” or not having adequate access to nutritious food, according to a 2019 report from the U.S. Department of Defense.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture cut two programs that connected local farmers and ranchers to schools and food banks, as part of cost-cutting efforts under the Trump administration.
In the programs, the government gave more than $1 billion to schools and food banks, as a way to guarantee business for farmers and provide low-cost food to the schools and food banks. However, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said the programs were “nonessential.”
When asked why the Trump administration wanted to start this program and cancel the others, Zeldin declined to answer but emphasized he wanted to expand this initiative to other military installations.
Frey said she was impressed with how quickly the program came together and how easy it would be for other farmers to join.
“The food literally came directly from our farm to this base — and to those families' shopping carts. It's that easy,” Frey said. “We over complicate things in this country, and we don't have to.”
